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Mobile ESPN Throws In The Towel

Article Comments  58  

Sep 28, 2006, 11:03 AM   by (staff)

After only attracting a rumored 10,000 customers, ESPN today confirmed rumors that it will shut down its Mobile ESPN service. The MVNO will contact customers and help them move to another carrier before the service is shut off at the end of the year, where they claim their content and the unique application the MVNO was based on will be available. As of today Mobile ESPN will begin helping customers to port to other carriers, customers will be able to walk away from contracts at no cost, and phone purchases will be refunded. ESPN will continue to license its branded content and services to other carriers.

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josh.freiheit

Sep 28, 2006, 11:51 AM

The Best News I've Heard All Week.

Mobile ESPN, AKA a thorn in my behind. I am a Account rep for Cingular working with BestBuy. Let me tell you Mobile Espn also known a Mobile sprint POS had the most unprofessional reps I've ever encountered. Working with the BB employees frequently I discovered they hated selling ESPN because it was such a hassle to activate. They do have tight phones with fast connections, but hey they must have realized Cingy will be the fastest-est network once their 3.5g is in place.
until sprint comes out with true 4G. which would probably be at the same time shingy pulles out the weak 3.5G. im not saying sprint is the best, because as of right now, they are crappy with the plans. i wasnt happy when they decided to change all the...
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WHEN? CINGULAR SUCKS!
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Cingular has 15 markets where 3g is covered. Sprint has 113 EVDO markets while Verizon has 63. Hmmm....Cingular will have the "fastest-est 3.5g network in place". BUT WITH NO FREAKIN' COVERAGE WHATSOEVER!!! What's the point?
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legacynrs4evr

Sep 29, 2006, 11:48 AM

It was their credit classes that did it

Anyone that I tried to activate on ESPN either had a $500 deposit per line, or got DECLINED completely!! I've never had a customer get declined for cell service in all my years and carriers unless they owed a previous balance. I'm sure there were tons of factors but this did not help i'm sure.
i work in a poor credit area, and mvno's are always declining people...
monkeyracer

Sep 28, 2006, 4:06 PM

Important questions, and answers to follow...

I just got the message to check the website.

What are they going to do with all the handsets? Maybe allow them to be switched onto sprint accounts after the esn's are loaded into their database?

Are we still supposed to sell them, and if so are we to tell them it's going to expire on 12/31/06, so they might as well come back to get a sprint again?

What will happen if someone doesn't switch by deact-date? Do they just not have service.

I'd hate to see these phones end up in a recycling bin.

Someone lend some insight to this please.
Pull all espn phones and materials from the sales floor and wait for further instruction. -Hotnews.
sangyup81

Sep 29, 2006, 9:19 AM

I WOULD HAVE SIGNED UP

I was just waiting for my contract to be up. =(

Did ESPN really expect a fast start? It takes time in this industry.
josh.freiheit

Sep 28, 2006, 4:38 PM

cINGULAR 3.5G

Your right only 15 markets with 3G not 3.5g which WILL be faster than EVDO. The launch was supposed to happen this month but got pushed back till November. Even though the best network in this country pushed their hotness network back it is still coming out with ample amount of time for the best sales time of the year for cell phones. CHRISTMAS.
P.S. Everyone~ GSM is the almighty CDMA is simply inferior!!!!!!!!!! Shocked 😳 😳 😳
You know what I think is funny here, is that you are so ****ing blind you don't EVEN KNOW WHAT THE CRAP YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.

AJHHFJKDL:JKHDFSDFHLJFSDHLJKDFSLJK MOTHER OF GOD WHY ARE YOU POSTING THIS IN THIS FORUM.

Granted, I agree with your st...
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So if 57 million ignorant idiots jumped of a really tall bridge would you?

Just because there's a lot of people using it doesn't make it the best.

Sprint has the fastest most available data network now. Sprint will still have that once 4g comes...
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store136

Sep 28, 2006, 11:15 AM

???? Retiring from the game ????

I guess the giving away handsets didn't pay off huh? It would've been nice if they stuck around for at least a year. I wonder WHY they are shutting down.
low no customers means no profit, no profit means no money for the business
...
store136 said:
I guess the giving away handsets didn't pay off huh? It would've been nice if they stuck around for at least a year. I wonder WHY they are shutting down.


Yeah! I wonder why, too! I mean, 10 thousand c...
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Maybe it is a smart move to get out before you put too much into it?? I dunno if you ask me sometimes you gotta lose money for a bit before you make it. I mean they say most businesses lose money their first year cuz of building their infastructure an...
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If someone is paying $50-60 for cable/dish, why in the HELL would someone pay their ridiculous fees for their service. They should have just sold content through Sprint, which would have made them more money. I called this from the beginning, and th...
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Yankees368

Sep 28, 2006, 3:37 PM

Why would they think this would work in the first place?

Did ESPN (Disney) really think that they could make this MVNO work? Come on.

They were marketing to people who already have cell phones, and the 2 year contract to go along with it. Switching carriers is a hassle, and most people do not want to go through all of that just to get some sports scores.

Anyone who really wants this stuff already can on their existing phone. I have an a900 with sprint, and am able to access all the data that the ESPN a900 could, and I'm sure your phone can too.

Try again in a few years with more content, cheaper phones and better pricing, and we shal see.
either that or spint should jump on this opportunity and buy this service and make it exclusive to their carrier much like how cingular has mobile hbo. just my 2cents.
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muchdrama

Sep 28, 2006, 12:48 PM

Crowded House

Apparently, 50 kazillion MVNO's make for too much competition. Huh, I wonder why ESPN didn't realize this.
Because they are all jock-heads 🙄
rytiffany

Sep 28, 2006, 1:29 PM

Not surprised a bit

I don't know anyone who has mobile ESPN. I know why you would want it though because a lot of times when some friends and I are watching the tube and see one of those commercials we all agree that we would have ESPN mobile but (and it's always a unanimous reason why not) they are so damn expensive. If the prices were more reasonable for the amount of stuff you get it would be a completely different ball game. I'm kinda sad to see it go because if it had stuck around long enough for prices to start to come down a bit I may have given it a whirl.
Exactly what I hear from customers. I only got mine because I am a sprint rep and get the phone for next to nothing a month.
 
 
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